How Would Your Life Change With an E-Cat at Home?

As we look forward to the possibility of the availability of home-based E-Cat units providing heat/air conditioning (1st generation) and later electricity, I thought it might be interesting to picture what that would mean on a practical level for readers of this site. What differences would a new power source in your home make? Also, you might think of immediate consequences this might have.

Here are some short term examples that I can think of for myself, if I had just the first generation E-Cat unit at home (heat and air conditioning). Also I’ve thought of some of the knock-on effects.

1. We wouldn’t need need to store firewood, and I wouldn’t need to worry about having the chimney for my wood stove cleaned. This would be bad news for the people in the area who sell firewood and who clean chimneys. This would also mean that chainsaw manufacturers, dealers and saw sharpeners would probably take a hit. What would people do with all the wood from dead and fallen trees?

2. We wouldn’t have to pay for delivery of propane gas to my home a few times each year — this would be a big relief for me, since average propane prices are $2.86 per gallon at the moment, and we probably go through around 1000 gallons per year. Would this put the propane distribution and delivery people out of business? Or would the price go down that it might still be competitive. I wonder if the agricultural sector would move quickly over to E-Cat — there is lots of heat used in my part of the world for the drying of grain in huge silos.

3. We wouldn’t need to turn on electric heaters at home in the winter and our summer electricity bill would be much cheaper if air conditioning were provided by the E-Cat units. Could be hard on the HVAC suppliers — although they might be very busy helping to install new E-Cat units throughout the area.

4. Would I need to work as much? Would I want to pick up on part time work opportunities that come up from time to time? A reduction in energy costs would mean a lot of financial relief at home. Maybe we could afford to travel a bit more — or perhaps buy a few more items for the home that we have been putting off for a long time like new carpet, or some new furniture. That would be good news for the local dealer that sell furniture and carpet.

As we multiply this “E-Cat effect” we can start to see that there could be some major changes coming along. The examples above are very short term immediate effects I can think of — over time the changes could be much more dramatic.

OH another thing. 2g of that per year at 10kwh. So all I need is 200g of that thang for next 100 years !!!!!
So a piece of small metal bar sitting in my shed will give me power for every little darn thing I want do to till croaking day…..HMMMMM

Gregoryyc

imagine that !!.. A mere 1g of nickel powder gives us 1.54Gw/s energy !!!! Hey my ol nickel in stainless pot has enough power to go to Mars and back !!!! And do everything else in between !!!

Pinball fan

Step back, and look at the big picture.
Any product or service that serves the interests of humanity is valuable. If that product or service is padded by a lot of unnecessary jobs and profits that are not germane to the goal, that is of providing to humanity, that is wasteful.
Most of the energy sector jobs will shift around to a whole new crop of jobs, and all will be well.
If you are concerned about the overall loss of jobs, look no further than politicians and central banking. And while you argue with them, the rest of us will get busy.
Yes We Cat.

Tom Andersen

Some big things we could do: (There is nothing I see in the technique that limits the price of energy to drop to below 100th or a 1000th of the present value.)

1) On a smaller scale, more outdoor heating. For example, provide 100kw to melt driveways, create open malls that have massive heated areas, heat covered porches in the winter. Hotels will certainly heat the entire entrance area.

2) Agriculture could benefit immensely, heating orchards on frost days, whole new ranges to grow crops, greenhouses that are easier to manage, etc.

3) Control sea level by pumping fresh water onto Antarctica, etc (there may be other ways…). If the cost of energy drops by a factor of 1000 or so, this kind of thing may be feasible, it may be cheaper than moving 2 billion people and their cities.

As the price drops, people will use more. I think that if energy was 100 times cheaper, then my energy bill might only go down by 2/3 – we would all use more energy – way more. Note that direct energy usage will not heat the planet – its not like carbon pollution, which is a catalyst. Still, you will see problems with getting rid of heat in urban areas. Central electricity will be vital for urban areas going forward.

http://- luis feher

I agree 120% with you . Somehow we need to stop using nuclear plants to generate our daily basis energy,wich is by far dangerously contaminant, or: anybody has question.. what they do with t all the radioactive waisr they produce? There is not a technology to eliminate or disrupt the radioactivity yet, so using our nuke power plants we contribute with thwe problem.
1)Using more effitient apliances and light-bulbs is a great step but not enough, but if we add this new tech to the saving-base products will be a great achievement to humanity! dotn you think?
By the way HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL. LUIS

hsn

Well… this is assuming that someone will find something similar someday! Energy has always been free, even those from fossil fuels (because fossil fuels are free from nature). What we pay for is for human labor which produces and distribute some product which we can use to produce energy. That labor is not free. Suppose someone discovers a means to produce free energy (without needing for anyone to help you to generate that energy), the price of energy will come down. And at the same time those people who used to work to help you to create energy will go out of job. Those people are also as smart as you otherwise. So effectively you will have to share your job with those people and effectively you will get paid less. That will offset the money you save by using the free energy. So it is not as easy as saying that I can go travel more.. it becomes much too complex! But one thing that can happen is the dependency between nations on the basis of oil will reduce and that could have some global impact (hopefully for good).

James Pelsor

Issues of thermal mass storage and efficient energy management come to mind first as the cyclical nature of the heat production is unclear. Without clear demonstration of the capacity of the system and the manner and time frame of heat delivery and damping, it is premature to anticipate how a small system really would fit into our affect our everyday lives. AR does need to establish the niche where the capabilities and strengths of the ecat fit with the energy management, delivery, and use system.
If I could only produce a million units a year, I would target a very limited niche of applications until the peripheral equipment could be successfully mated.
While I have personally ‘reserved’ three 10kw units, it is not with a utopian dream, but rather with the expectation that significant secondary engineering will need to be completed prior to applications in the retail market.
If real and controllable in an effective manner, we need to match the ecat into reliable configurations with a reliability factor approaching the gasoline engine. No one like an outboard engine engineered for 30 hours of performance but one approaching a cummins diesel – ready to rock and roll for 300,000 to 400,000 miles prior to major maintenance.
In any case I’m signed up – let’s see an available on the open market 10 KW unit!!!!!

Roger Bird

Please let me know how a heater can work with an A/C?

Neil

My pop up camper refrigerator runs off the propane. I have to light it and it gets cold. I won’t say I know how it works it just does. 😉

Marco S.

I too agree with Johanes and Kim and Rui.
And what about cheap desalination used to irrigate even the driest regions ?
Even hunger will be defeated.
What a wonderfull dream !!!

Jonathan D.

I am sure there will be concerns with the environmental effects of an ecat. Just think, people might want to heat all driveways and streets in cold weather. Everyone might want a large heated outdoor pool in the winter. Every town might want to avoid having dark nights. Why have those outdoor misters in public areas on hot days, when you could have cold air. You think we have an invasive species problem now, wait until nearly anyone can live anywhere on earth until they get bored and move on.
I would like to to have an ecat world, but we would have to have some new rules.

Roger Bird

Jonathan D., it will be nice to end suffering that is the result of unfulfilled needs. But it will be replaced by the problems caused by out-of-control desires, that you have eluded to.

Scott

One area of concern I have is over population. With more food and better conditions the population in 3rd world countries might increase dramatically unless measures are taken. I do prefer this problem over the status quo.

Markus

Hi !

Well: here a couple of effects I see (-/+).

+ sounds like energy without any drawbacks, very much
unbelievable can only hope this is true

– Boom in new technologies, being uneconomic currently
+ will create hundred thousands ob jobs in other areas

-/+ more advantages for developped countries without
Energy resources

In general: this is for sure a big industrial revolution and as always we can only hope that it comes better slowly than quickly so that people(s) can adapt.

EnergyGuy

A Happy New Year 2012 to the forum-master, and all those who intend for peace on Earth, and good will toward all those who intend good will for others, or those aupportive of, or are working in good faith on low-cost and non-polluting energy alternatives. Verbally brutal commenters will need a good “lecture” first.

Yes, I would purchase a New Energy (over-unity) generator the moment it became available and affordable. Since I’m 69, have Type 2 Diabetes, and have had some mini-strokes (TIA’s), it would have to pay back within about 8 years. Really, how long could I expect to live to derive the benefits? However, I should consider that the E-Cat would be a “tool” to work with others in promoting all types of over-unity energy, despite my age and health situation.

Pending that, I’d move to the “out-back” in Canada, my home, with a gasification wood stove/furnace for highest-possible combustion efficiency. Theoretically, nothing should come out the chimney but CO2 in that case; the ash should be minimal, and therefore completely combusted, no chemical energy remaining. Yes, I’d still need to clean the chimney, have my own wood-lot, or at least a contracted wood-supply at a guaranteed very low cost/joule. As for the wood from dead or fallen trees, I’d get my physician-prescribed exercise by gathering it up (if it’s free, of course) and burning it in my still-existing wood stove/furnace. I’d also need a chain saw, but that burns gasoline (petrol), doesn’t it? … unless, of course, I’d have a very long extension cord to my properly-insulated log cabin’s electricity supply for an electric chain saw. BTW, my log cabin would be getting much of its winter heat from a geo-thermal mass building up over the hot summer.

As for a traditional non-renewable back-up energy source, I think – regrettably – oil would be a better deal for me where I’d live than propane, for heating costs, but I’d have to check with others. If traditional hydrocarbon costs did decline for competitive reasons, they could only do so until the vendor’s selling price equals his cost price. Then yes, the vendor would go out of business, and eventually at least some producers as well.

Much like those insurance companies we love so much, Canadian farmers are traditional/conservative, and reluctant to change to something radically new, like the E-CAt, without it’s being thoroughly proved out first. They’d watch how other farmers bear out with their E-Cats first.However, farmers are always looking for the lowest-cost generally-accepted energy source for tasks as crucial as grain drying and irrigation, and if the E-Cat performs as promised, farmers would buy them. Farmers of small-to-medium-size farms waited decades before they decided on combines instead of just harvester-binders and threshing machines.

Assuming we’d have E-CAts down the line, and they’d be initially for heating only, quite rightly, I wouldn’t need an electric heater, except if my E-Cat “craps out”. As for air conditioning, I’ve heard of heat being used for that, but I don’t know how that would work. However, any HVAC business would have to operate in a business-like way to survive, and would have to adapt to change, including to E-Cats. If they do that, I doubt if there’d be a problem with staying in business. Specific air-conditioning devices themselves have to be installed and maintained, no matter the energy source.

At least for those in the mid-middle-income range and above, there’d be more money available for non-essentials, and certain essentials, such as better education/training in special areas such as the performing arts. On your “need to work as much” point, it would depend on the enterprise in which one is working. On the one hand, one could opt for the same hours of work at the same salary/wage, or be ready to take a lower income for fewer work hours, because the prior income amount wouldn’t be needed for the same life-style.

In any case, getting an E-Cat early on in one’s life should be better for oneself, and one’s family, because there’d be plenty of time for payoff if one lives to old age.

Wes

Happy New Year to you EnergyGuy!

kryptomaniac

Air conditioning guys will be making money left and right. Everybody with A/C that gets an ecat will want an additional/retrofitted heat based A/C unit to replace their electric compressor unit. Not sure if the evaporator could stay the same, but probably not.

Not sure I’d want to pull my existing, vs add on a new ecat compatible system.

That and I can keep my house at 72 year round.

Jim

The thing about a guarantee of cop of 6 is that that is just for the basic device. There’s really no reason why you couldn’t use two or more in series. The first is set for self-generating heat (add no more power to it after it starts working) which then heats the second (or others).

Technically there might be no reason why a D cell battery couldn’t initiate a chain which provides all the heat and electricity you want. You’d just need more devices linked in series.

As for the general economy, we’ve seen higher energy costs create an economic stall. Cheap energy should cause a boom, with everything from manufacturers able to lower prices, to repair shops finding both parts cheaper and costs of doing business cheaper.

Less of your money will go toward covering the energy costs to make, grow, or transport products, which will eventually have the effect of prices dropping when competition takes over. The first few companies that switch over to the e-cat will find their profit margin going up, but as more and more companies buy into it, prices across the board will drop as companies try to keep their market share.

I don’t expect the e-cat to power cars for a while. I’m not sure how that would work, unless you’d refill your water tank every 100 miles. I can see people using the e-cat to generate hydrocarbons using hydrogen and carbon, and using that as fuel though.

Roger Bird

Professor Jay Leno, an expert on steam cars, demonstrated one of the last steam cars, which had a condenser. The steam was piped back to a cooler that condensed the steam back into liquid water and it was simply reused. The H2O is only useful when it changes state from water to steam. If the water going into the boiler is 205 degrees rather than room temperature, so much the better. This means that no water is ever lost, and the machine works better as the water gets closer to boiling (but it works really bad if all the water boils at once.).

Alain

no need to refill watter for a car.
turbine or stirling use closed circuits with fluids…
What RB says looks like a stirling, but I’m not sure.
todays it seems that turbines have better efficiency for medium power.

no more time of old steam engine…

just change the kernel every 6 month 😎

Wes

I would invite a group of scientists to my home to witness Rossi’s e-cat demos done correctly.

Wally

I expect that my apartment rent would go down a bit. One of the big draws of the complex in which I live is a nice warm outdoor pool (large), available year-round. This costs a fortune to heat, I’m sure. Same for the big jacuzzi. In fact, the complex may decide to heat all the area pools during the winter (they only do this now in the spring and summer) if it were very cheap to do so.

Pinoccio

Dreaming is free … but dreams are!!

Roger Bird

Pinoccio, I am only trying to help you out so that you can avoid making a complete fool of yourself. Try googling SPAWAR, “Mike McKubre”, and LENR.

Steve Robb

It wouldn’t affect my life directly as my heating, water and electric bill total only $420/year. When the e-cat powered vehicles come out and I could afford one then I might be directly affected.

Paolotini

laughing, laughing, laughing

because it is only a dream!

timycelyn

Tip: If you have nothing useful to say, it is better to stay silent and say nothing….

Roger Bird

Paolotini, you might want to google “Mike McKubre”, SPAWAR, and a few other sites before you make a complete fool of yourself.

BeerFizz

I could sit in my pool, in January, with the snow falling and steam rising… measure the temperature of the water… hmmm a nice 96 degrees F.

It will change everything we know about energy.
But first seeing than believing.

rzr

Our electricity bill is about 3500 euros/year and 2/3 of that is heating. With a heatpump. Basic house with relatively good insulation. So, a lot of saved money.

Rui

3500 euros/year ? Where do you live? I live in the Netherlands, in a house from the late 1930’s and still pay 2000 per year.

Frank

I also have a heat pump in my house:
Electricity costs for room-heating and water-heating less than 1000 Euros/year.
The COP of the heat pump is around 4.5
The pump is in operation since years without any maintenance ( 0 Euro maintenance or service costs).
And it is easy to control (switches on/off automatically – depending on the heating demand)

So, in case Mr. Rossi (or anyone else) would really invent a cold-fusion (or LENR) heating device with an guaranteed COP of only 6, this wouldn’t be any reason for me to throw away my heat-pump.

Johannes Hagel

At the time being I cannot know how the E-Cat and LENR would directly influence my life. Surely it will! But I am very certain about one extremely positive psychological effect: For the first time in my conscious life (I am 55) I will have the feeling that our future is secure in the sense that our way of living will not destroy the world in which we are living and therefore will be justified in a moral way. Our high standard of living (at least in the developed world) will never more exist at the cost of nature and environment. This is a huge step forward in my opinion and maybe the biggest evolutionary achievment ever!

Kim

I Feel the same way Johannes.

A collective sigh of relieve…

Respect
Kim

Rui

I agree with Johanes and Kim here.
The Mad Max kind of scenario, where the world collapses upon itself on the lack of oil seems further away now.

Tony

Excellent points, Johannes and Kim. Let’s not get too carried away with outdoor heating (that probably WOULD cause global warming and we’d end up spending just as much as we do now!) other than maybe airport runways. I think if we can heat our homes, and pools if we have them, most of us will be happy with that until Dr R comes up with applications for electricity generation and then vehicle applications.
Have to say I started following the e-cat saga back in the summer with healthy scepticism, but it seems the sceptics have now all but slunk away now.

Roger Bird

Even though I do not believe in anthropogenic global warming, I agree with Johannes 100%. It will be a big improvement. Even processing our trash will be much easier, and hopefully garbage dumps will be a thing of the past and we can recycle all of it. SO2 and other fossil fuel pollutants will be a thing of the past.